ON THE ROAD: Karanka's facing a special kind of challenge at Middlesbrough

Aitor Karanka began life as Middlesbrough’s first overseas manager with a 2-1 defeat at Leeds on Saturday.

The last time he visited Elland Road, 13 years and a day previously, he sat on the bench as a Real Madrid side featuring Roberto Carlos and Luis Figo beat Leeds 2-0 in the Champions League.

Times change, not that you would have guessed from the 30,367 spectators bellowing their way through this second-tier encounter. Yet whether Jose Mourinho’s former assistant at Madrid is cut out for the very different demands of the Championship remains to be seen.

Boro fans applaud: The travelling Middlesbrough support gave new boss Aitor Karanka a decent ovation at the end of the match against Leeds United despite losing 2-1

More than 2,000 Boro fans stumped up the extortionate £36 for a ticket to support their new man at Leeds; a man in charge of a club who set up collection points during home games in October for supporters to donate tins of food for local families.

A third of young people in Middlesbrough, around 16,000 children, are thought to live below the poverty line.

Football, that supposed 90 minutes of release on a Saturday afternoon or Tuesday night, needs to provide a means of escape.

Attracting a crowd: More than 2,000 Middlesbrough fans paid £36 to watch their side lose against Leeds United. New boss Karanka is expected to bring success to the club following the sacking of Tony Mowbray

Goal machine: Liverpool scouts were at Elland Road to see Ross McCormack score his eighth goal in his last five Championship games against Boro

The rigours and relentlessness of the Championship might feel very different from managing the egos of Galacticos at the Bernabeu, yet each has its own pressure and responsibility.

Karanka, 40, has worked with Spain’s Under 16s but the sprinkling of the Special One’s stardust was no doubt a decisive factor in his appointment in Teesside.

Mourinho sent him a good luck text two hours before kick-off and they have spoken on the phone since Karanka (above) was made Tony Mowbray’s successor 12 days ago.

‘What did we talk about? Nothing special,’ said the Spaniard, clearly keen to step out of Mourinho’s shadow before that becomes his tag line.

Football’s like that, after all: once you have a label, it sticks.

Just ask Andre Villas-Boas, for so long Mourinho’s executive DVD maker at Chelsea despite winning the Europa League with Porto.

Middlesbrough left back George Friend, 26, has noticed his new manager’s ‘meticulous attention to detail’ during the double sessions the squad have endured during the international break but noted that Karanka ‘wants to be his own man’.

Connected: Karanka (right) was assistant to Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho (right) during his spell in charge of Real Madrid

Golden age: Aitor Karanka (left) was part of the Real Madrid side that beat Leeds in the Champions League

Friend said: ‘Everyone’s talked about the Jose Mourinho link and the manager probably wants to distance himself from him. He wants to be his own man, and he wants everyone to understand that.

‘It’s been good (since he came in). It has been really positive: he likes to pass the ball and it’s about playing football the right way.

‘What I have noticed is he’s very meticulous and organised. I’m not saying the other managers haven’t been but his attention to detail is very noticeable.’

Who does that remind you of?

Tough start: Karanka saw his side reduced to 10-men following the dismissal of goalkeeper Jason Steele before equalising through Mustapha Carayol and then conceding again late on

Former Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate, now back with his hometown club, has already compared Karanka’s communication skills favourably with those of Juande Ramos, who barely spoke a word of English when he first managed the centre half at Tottenham.

But despite spending a year playing soccer in America with the Colorado Rapids, Karanka’s command of English, at least with the press, is functional rather than fluid.

So are his team. Middlesbrough scored the best goal of an error-strewn game, when Mustapha Carayol anticipated Albert Adomah’s cross and equalised with a superb finish, but they gave the ball away too easily and frequently.

Learning the lingo: Aitor Karanka (centre) spent a year playing in America so has enough English to talk with the media without a translator

So did Leeds, despite Ross McCormack’s eighth goal in his last five Championship games — which no doubt delighted the watching Liverpool scouts — and a headed winner from Jason Pearce after Boro goalkeeper Jason Steele had been sent off.

Karanka insisted he ‘watched a lot of games’ in this division but there was a lot of head-shaking as he stalked the touchline in his black Mourinho-style three-quarter jacket.

He certainly has a challenge to combine elements of the ‘good memories’ from his 2000 visit to Elland Road with the things he learnt from his latest trip.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Ronaldo's heroics for Portugal against Sweden secured their place at the World Cup finals in Brazil next summer

I’m just surprised it took his remarkable performance for Portugal against Sweden to convince some voters to pick him over Franck Ribery.

The FA Women’s Super League lost one of its best players this week as Arsenal’s Kim Little announced her move to Seattle Reign. Good luck to a very talented footballer. It’s interesting there are still better options abroad, despite a £3.5million, five-year investment by the FA though, isn’t it?

There was a touching, heartfelt tribute to Gary Speed at Elland Road on Saturday, marking two years since the passing of the former Leeds and Wales midfielder. The home fans began singing his name after 11 minutes and did not stop for at least another nine. Very poignant.